


Unexpected

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Community: 100_tales, F/M, Nobody is Dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-11
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2018-02-12 16:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2116773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack felt suddenly hollow, which made perfect sense because there was suddenly a Carter-shaped hole in his heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> written for LJ community "100_tales" prompt #063 "despair"

Jack smiled and nodded to the airmen he passed on his way to the Control Room. They all smiled back and paused to salute him, but did nothing in particular to recognize him as either a two-star general or a former base commander, just carried on with whatever they were doing, and he remembered why he’d always liked this place.

“General O’Neill, sir,” said Walter, when he stopped beside the dialing computer. “We weren’t expecting you until Monday.”

“My schedule cleared up,” said Jack, with a smile.

Actually, he’d postponed three meetings he wanted to avoid anyway, and left instructions with his secretary to tell everyone who called that he was considering their proposals and would get back to them next week.

He’d already been planning a trip to Cheyenne Mountain, but then he’d gotten a phone call from Sam, just before SG-1 headed out on a milk-run mission to a planet filled with trees and ancient ruins and not much else, and she had mentioned that there was Something they needed to talk about. A capital-letter Something, but not a bad one, he could tell from the tone of her voice— as well as being able to hear the capital S— just one she didn’t want to talk about over the phone.

And Jack had never been all that good at waiting patiently.

“Unscheduled off-world activation,” said Walter, suddenly. “I’m getting Teal’s’s IDC.”

“Open the iris,” said Jack, and headed for the Gate Room.

He stopped short at the base of the ramp.

Teal’c emerged from the wormhole first, an unconscious Mitchell draped over his shoulder. Daniel and Vala were right behind, both looking so unsteady that Jack couldn’t tell who was holding up whom.

There was no sign of Sam.

“Carter…” Jack began, barely a whisper, but he already knew what the answer would be. SG-1 didn’t leave people behind, so for them to have come back without Sam…

Daniel blinked, seeming to have a hard time focusing on Jack without his glasses. “Jack,” he said. “Oh, god, Jack—”

“Colonel-Carter did not return with us,” said Teal’c, sorrow in his deep voice.

Jack reached out automatically to help Mitchell, now conscious but groggy, to his feet. “Daniel—”

“She _ordered_ us to go, Jack!” the archaeologist cried. “The planet— there was something wrong with it, It just… just came apart.”

“Tectonic stress fractures,” said Mitchell, looking a little surprised he managed to say it correctly. “Cracked like an egg, sir.”

“The ruins were unstable,” added Vala, still clinging to Daniel. “And Sam ordered us to get Cameron back here, when he was hit. We barely managed to get through the stargate before the complex collapsed.

Jack swallowed, hard. Sam was the smartest person he knew, but even she couldn’t survive a stone kind-of-temple falling on her. He felt suddenly hollow, which made perfect sense because there was suddenly a Carter-shaped hole in his heart.

He took a deep breath. Secretly, he’d been hoping that he knew what Sam’s Something might have been about— No, he couldn’t let himself think about that now. Losing Sam was bad enough without imagining that.

Ruthlessly shoving aside his feelings, Jack raised his voice. “Medical team to—”

“ _Unscheduled off-world activation!_ ” called Walter’s voice, as the first chevron locked. SG-1 hurried out of the way of the _kawoosh_ and the iris spiraled shut. “ _Receiving an IDC. Sir— It’s Colonel Carter’s!_ ”

“Open the iris!” snapped Jack.

The wormhole shimmered for a long breathless moment, then Sam stepped out, smiling and completely unhurt.

“Carter!” Jack cried, grinning back even before her presence fully registered. “How…?”

“This.” Sam held up a glowing green crystal thing, shaped like a turtle.

“An Ancient personal shield device?” asked Mitchell, who had clearly read all the Atlantis mission reports, too.

Daniel frowned. “Sam, you don’t have the Ancient gene.”

“No,” said Sam, softly. She wasn’t looking at either of her teammates, but staring straight at Jack. “But _you_ do.”

Jack was not as dumb as he usually pretended to be. There was only one reason the shield would activate for Sam when she didn’t have the gene, one reason she would be able to use _his_ gene— He threw his arms around her waist, lifting her clear off her feet. He could feel her smile against his shoulder and spun her around, ignoring the aches in his knees because his wife was alive and safe, and she was carrying their child.

Reluctantly, Jack set her back down, not even noticing the aches in his knees.

“You’re happy about this?” Sam asked, quietly.

“Absolutely and completely,” he replied. “Are you?”

“Yeahsureyoubetcha.”

“Uh, guys?” said Daniel. “What’s going on?”

Jack kept an arm around Sam’s waist, grinning broadly. “You see, Danny, when a mommy and daddy love each other very much…”

THE END


End file.
